Regret
by OneMistyKnight
Summary: It might have been too late, and the regret of losing his father was deep. But Terry still visited his father's grave on Father's day to share his thoughts with the man he loved the most; his father, Warren McGinnis.


**A/N: **Ok, so I got a little sneaky about the father's day fic. The one with Max and Terry was purely to hint to Terry's deceased father that there would be an addition to the McGinnis clan. As in look Dad, I'm growing up. Lol. Someone called me out on it (not in a mean way) that there was little to do with Warren. So I lied to all of you when I omitted the fact that I did have another story written, but I wanted to post Terry and Max saying Happy Father's Day to Warren. The real Father's Day story is this one and it's more somber and sentimental. This one here took me a couple of days because I was really thinking about it.

**Disclaimer: **I, **OneMistyKnight**, do not claim Batman Beyond. If I legally could, there would be more episodes produced.

**Regret**

A year had passed since Warren's death, and Terry still remembered every detail as if he saw the whole thing just yesterday. Although he cried with the rest of the family, he was angry; angry that he couldn't stop the murders in time to prevent his father's death. Terry also felt regret and the feeling cut deeper than any knife that was plunged into his body. Whenever he thought about all the ways he could have prevented his father's death the result was still the same somehow in his brain. Even if he was the Dark Knight before then, could he have made it in time to stop Powers from killing his father all for a secret? He remember asking Bruce about that and the only answer the old man was able to give him was simple.

Even as Batman, you can't save everyone, every time...

Terry squats down and presses his hand against the tombstone. His fingers brushes over his father's name and he once again felt the salty tears prick at his eyes. He hadn't cried since the funeral when his mother tried to console him and tell him that it isn't his fault. Even if he did know that, a small part in Terry still insisted otherwise. He wanted to forgive himself for walking out on his father that night, but he started to cry thinking how truly foolish he was. Terry sucked his bottom lip in as he cast his eyes down at the edge of the tombstone.

"Dad...I couldn't tell you how sorry I am for running out that night. If – If I knew that things would have turned out the way they did, I wouldn't have given you such a hard time. I saw you as the enemy ever since you and mom got a divorce and things just no longer seemed to make sense. I was so angry at you and blinded by my own selfishness that I failed to notice that you were always there trying to help me, but I pushed you away," Terry sniffled. He inhaled deeply then released his breath shakily as more tears dripped down his cheeks. Immediately he wiped the tears away and looked up at the epitaph.

On the epitaph it read "Beloved Father, Husband and Brother. He was an great man who loved his family more than life itself, and he will be greatly missed." Terry had read that epitaph more than a million times ever since his father was laid to rest, and each time he read it, he cried thinking just how stupid and selfish he was before Warren was murdered all those nights ago. At the very least, Terry knew that his father was not the result of random Jokerz robbing the apartment, but with the help of Batman, learned that it was his own father's job performing illegal experiments on human guinea pigs for the sake of profiting from the needs of warfare. When Terry found out, he was beyond pissed and even if he died himself, he would exposed Powers and take him down for good.

When Terry had a moment to reflect on the entirety of the situation, he realized that his willingness to take down the criminal who committed the murder at any means necessary, would make Terry no better than the dregs who had no remorse for another human beings death. That was a lesson that his father taught him – to respect another person's life and that revenge only perpetuated the cycle of violence.

As a matter of fact, his father taught him a lot of life lessons that Terry took for granted. Some lessons such as learning how to tie a tie, to mysteries of girl's and more profound lessons that helped shaped Terry into the man he is today. If not for his father, he would probably be a pathetic dreg out on the streets right now as a criminal rather than being Gotham's gleaming hope and Bruce Wayne's successor.

Terry smiled about that little fact. "Dad," Terry sat down on the ground in front of his father's grave. "I never thanked you for all the things you've done for me and Matt. I never got you a single gift since I was in the fourth grade, and I never told you how much you truly mean to me." Terry smiled, somewhat bitterly yet thoughtfully at the same time. "Well, Dad...Maybe you won't be able to hear this, but I wanted to at least say it once to you."

Sitting with his legs crossed and his hands rested on his ankles, Terry kept staring at the gravestone. "I love you, Dad and I miss you so much. It feels weird not to have you around and give me and Matt your usual speeches about life, or take us out on one of your camping trips, or make your lame computer and math jokes. They were so lame, but even I'm starting to miss hearing you tell them. I," Terry begins as he felt a lump in his throat and a searing strain in his esophagus as tears threatened to fall. He took a deep breath and exhaled. His voice nearly cracked, but Terry was able to maintain his composure. "Matt told me once that he was starting to forget what you looked like. He asked Mom once if we could bring you back as a ghost and it was the toughest thing to answer. You should have seen the disappointed look on his face when Mom told him you weren't coming back. So we went through the old album and pulled out all the pictures of us, including the camping pictures." For once, Terry chuckles airly. "Matt remembered when you told me to watch where I was going and he laughed so much when I fell and had that rash from poison ivy. I didn't remember that part as fondly as he did, but that was still a good day. I wish we could have more memories of you like that now. But," Terry lowers his head as his shoulders slump. "I guess that's it..."

Terry pushes himself up off the ground and dusted the seat of his pants off. He stared at the tombstone as he contemplated on all his memories with his father. Although he still felt remorseful, but at the same time he felt a sense of pride that his father was a great man. It might taken Terry years to finally recoup from the loss, but he would always remember and cherish every memory and every piece of wisdom his father Warren left behind.

"It's not much," Terry whispers as he dug his hand into his left pant pocket and pulled out a gray satchel. Inside the satchel was a trinket that he made for his father a long time ago in which Warren hung above his desk. "But I think you'll like this. It's your Father's Day gift that I made way back when I was in the fourth grade. When I look back I realized how much I hated how your gift looked. But you seemed to like it so much that you kept it in front of your desk at home." Terry placed the satchel down on his father's tombstone then stands back up. "Maybe you'll remember the paper-clip angel who was supposed to be your guardian angel." Terry shoved his hands into his pocket. "But I guess he didn't work... "

"Dad...I know it's not much and I know it's too late now, but Happy Father's day. I love you dad and I always will."

**~La Fin~**

**A/N: **This above was the official Father's Day story. Well, the first one written but the second one posted.


End file.
